The Introduction to Sociology Course was developed through the Ohio Department of Higher Education OER Innovation Grant. This work was completed and the course was posted in September 2018. The course is part of the Ohio Transfer Module and is also named OSS021. For more information about credit transfer between Ohio colleges and universities, please visit: www.ohiohighered.org/transfer.Team LeadIrene Petten                                                Columbus State Community CollegeContent Contributors Dee Malcuit                                                 Clark State Community CollegeKwaku Oboso-Mensah                               Lorain County Community CollegeAnjel Stough-Hunter                                   Ohio Dominican UniversityLibrarianSherri Saines                                              Ohio UniversityReview TeamEric Jorrey                                                 Central Ohio Technical College 

OER Text materialTheoretical Perspectives on CultureChapter 3, subsection 3.4. According to functionalists, societies need culture to exist. Cultural norms function to support the fluid operation of society, and cultural values guide people in making choices. In addition, culture exists to meet its members’ basic needs. Conflict theorists view social structure as inherently unequal, based on power differentials related to issues like class, gender, race, and age. For a conflict theorist, culture is seen as reinforcing issues of "privilege" for certain groups based upon race, sex, class, etc. Symbolic interactionism is mostly concerned with the face-to-face interactions between members of society. Interactionists see culture as being created and maintained by the ways people interact and in how individuals interpret each other’s actions.